During question period on December 7, 2015, Premier Notley blamed “miscommunication” with Albertans for the heavily criticized roll-out of the Bill, stating the legislation was never meant to apply to families and neighbours.
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After the bill sparked fury in rural Alberta, the government introduced amendments to exempt family members and neighbours from mandatory Workers’ Compensation Board coverage on farms, insisting that was the intent all along.
Consultations with farmers are expected as the province tries to nail down more specific rules on labour relations, employment standards and safety. In particular, Alberta Hutterite colonies raised concerns that the original Bill was at odds with the community life style associated with Hutterite farming operations.
“There is a heck of a lot of difference between a feedlot and a family farm”, said Eskeland.
For Eskeland, he would like to see the government be transparent about the bill. They say they weren’t consulted enough and bureaucratic red tape will strangle the culture and profitability of family farms.
“If they’re looking at a criminal investigation, they could come to the RCMP or the Edmonton Police Service”, he said. This bill is about correcting a long unmet need to protect vulnerable paid farm workers who are obliged to follow the instructors of their employers at risk of losing their job.. “They didn’t explain what was going to happen”.
Musekamp said the bill will give farm workers basic rights to protect their safety such as being able to refuse unsafe work or to be informed about hazards.
“It completely ignores the reality of farming”, said Starke. Only 12% of Albertans want to ban kids from working on farms.
“You don’t know what to believe or what not to believe”, he said. Its going to come forward for the producers to look at, but its going to be modeled on what everybody else around the world is done..
The NDP government passed the bill in third reading by using its legislative prerogative to cut off debate.
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Nelson said many dont trust the government about the coming regulations because of how the issue was handled. No. They’re just a government by the unions, for the unions.
